Unusual places on Google maps. The mystery of the Nazca civilization

Nazca Desert (Peru) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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The Nazca Desert, located off the southern coast of Peru, is one of the most amazing and mystical places on the planet. This area became widely known thanks to the gigantic mysterious lines that form into shapes from a great height. realistic drawings, as if made by the hand of an invisible giant master. The amount of art is amazing: in the Nazca desert there are more than thirty identifiable designs alone, and there are also about 700 geometric shapes and countless lines and stripes. Millions of tourists from all over the world come to see the mysterious signs every year, and the desert itself is perhaps the most visited attraction in Peru.

A little history

Hummingbird, Monkey, Dog, Whale - these are just a few of the giant drawings in the Nazca desert. The first evidence of the existence of shallow long trenches of unknown purpose dates back to the 16th century, and in 1939 it became visible from the air for the first time that these strips form perfect pictures. The first photos of the desert were taken in 1947, and since then scientists have been puzzling over the purpose of the Nazca drawings.

So far, all that is known is that the authors of the drawings (at least according to modern science) are the ancient Nazca civilization, which existed from the 1st century BC until the 8th century with its center in the ceremonial city of Cahuachi (28 km from the current city of Nazca) . In addition to desert art, the Nazcas bequeathed an extensive system of underground water canals (many of which are still used by local residents), as well as examples of ceramics and textiles, which can be seen in the Antonini Archaeological Museum in the city of Nazca.

The famous Nazca Lines are located on a section of rocky desert with an area of ​​50 by 5-7 km, occupying a total space of 500 square meters. km.

How to get there

Main locality The area of ​​Nazca is logically called Nazca. The most convenient way to get here is by bus, this indispensable Peruvian transport. Buses depart from all major cities in the country; the fastest way to Nazca is from the city of Ica, the center of the southern coast of Peru - the journey will take 2-3 hours and cost about 30-40 PEN.

Buses from Cusco and Arequipa also arrive in Nazca; in the first case, you will have to spend about 14 hours on the road, in the second - “only” nine, both buses depart from their starting points at night, arriving at the place in the morning. A ticket from Cusco will cost about 90-100 PEN, from Arequipa - about 75-85 PEN. The trip from Lima will take approximately 6-8 hours depending on the route.

If you want to see the Nazca Lines, but are based in Lima, it is most convenient to purchase a sightseeing tour from one of the agencies in the Peruvian capital. Tourists set off at 4 am, visit the cities of Ballestas and Nazca itself (including its attractions), and also fly around the Nazca lines in a light aircraft. Return to Lima around 10 pm the same day. The cost of the excursion is about 900-1000 PEN. Prices on the page are as of September 2018.

How to get around

You can get around the city of Nazca on foot - it is quite small. A taxi ride to any distance within the city will cost no more than 4 PEN, and a trip to the airport (from where the light-duty cars with tourists take off) will cost no more than 5-6 PEN.

Hotels in the Nazca Desert

Hoteliers in the city of Nazca and the surrounding area, of course, could not ignore the increased popularity of the area among foreign tourists, so there are plenty of options for accommodation here. Prices start from 35-40 PEN per room without embellishment; for 50 PEN you can stay for the night comfortably, and for 90-120 PEN you can even have a blast. For budget tourists there are a lot of hostels with prices ranging from 15-20 PEN per bed. Well, to experience the authentic atmosphere of Nazca, you can stay at a private hacienda turned into a hotel.

Cuisine and restaurants

In the city of Nazca, you should not look for gourmet restaurants - after all, although it is a popular province, it is a province. But there are more than enough establishments of a worker-peasant nature here - and the food they serve is very good: the ingredients are fresh, the preparation is simple but good, and the portions are huge. Fast food includes all kinds of sandwiches and burgers, kiosks with which are located on any of the city streets. If you want to have a hot lunch, Nazca restaurants are at your service, where for 8-15 PEN you will be offered a fixed menu of soup, several main dishes to choose from and a drink.

Nazca Lines

The famous Nazca Lines are located on a section of rocky desert with an area of ​​50 by 5-7 km, occupying a total space of 500 square meters. km. In fact, they are shallow furrows a meter wide and 30-40 cm deep. Due to the fact that the surface of the soil in Nazca is darker and the “underside” is lighter, the lines are clearly visible to the eye. But due to the fact that the drawings occupy a gigantic area, you can see them in all their glory only from the air.

Flights over the Nazca Desert start from the local airfield, where operator stands are plentiful. A seat in a four-seater Cessna (2 pilots and 2 passengers) will cost about 50-70 USD in the low season and 90-110 USD in the high season. Definitely need to bargain! The passenger will also be asked to pay an airport tax of 10-15 PEN. The flight duration is about half an hour.

You can also admire the Nazca Line from the observation tower located along the Pan-American Highway. From there you can see 3-4 drawings and a magnificent mountain landscape on the horizon. A taxi from the city of Nazca and back will cost about 55 PEN, and climbing the tower itself will cost 3 PEN.

Nazca city and surroundings

To get a complete picture of the Nazca culture, you should definitely visit the interesting Archaeological Museum of Antonini. Here are examples of ceramics and textiles recovered from archaeological excavations, and in the garden there is a model of the Nazca Aqueduct and a model of the Nazca Lines.

In the nearby city of Cantalloc, it is worth seeing the system of underground Nazca aqueducts (“pucuyos”), thanks to which cotton, corn, beans and other crops are successfully grown in this arid region today. Nearby you can look at the ruins of the Inca city of Paredones.

The Chauchilla burial site is the only place in Peru where you can see mummies about 3 thousand years old “in a natural setting.” For centuries, treasure hunters have plundered ancient graves, not hesitating to leave the deceased owners of jewelry on the surface. Don’t be surprised to see skulls, bones, hair and other evidence of the frailty of human existence under your feet.

Giant ground drawings of the Peruvian Nazca plateau are deservedly considered one of the most mysterious attractions not only South America, but also the entire planet.

Mysterious lines folding into bizarre shapes cover about 500 square meters of the plateau. The lines that form the Nazca drawings are applied to the surface of the earth in a unique way - by excavating the soil, as a result of which trenches are formed up to 1.5 meters wide and up to 30-50 centimeters deep.

The lines form a huge number of geoglyphs - geometric and shaped patterns: over 10,000 stripes, more than 700 geometric shapes (mainly trapezoids, triangles and spirals), about 30 images of birds, animals, insects and flowers.

The Nazca paintings are impressive in their size. For example, the figures of a spider and a hummingbird are about 50 meters long, the figure of a condor extends to 120 meters, the image of a pelican - almost 290 meters. It is amazing that with such a gigantic size, the contours of the figures are continuous and surprisingly accurate. Almost perfectly smooth stripes cross the beds of dry rivers, climb high hills and descend from them, but do not deviate from the required direction. Modern science unable to explain such a phenomenon.

These amazing ancient figures were first discovered by pilots only in the 30s of the last century.

This is explained by the fact that from the ground it is almost impossible to recognize figures stretching tens and hundreds of meters in length.

Despite decades of research, it remains a mystery how, by whom and for what purpose these drawings were made. The estimated “age” of the images is from fifteen to twenty centuries.

Today, about 30 designs, about 13 thousand lines and stripes, about 700 geometric figures (primarily triangles and trapezoids, as well as about a hundred spirals) are known.

Most researchers attribute the authorship of the drawings to representatives of the Nazca civilization, who inhabited the plateau before the appearance of the Incas. The level of development of the Nazca civilization has not been sufficiently studied, so it is impossible to say with certainty that its representatives possessed technologies that allowed them to create such drawings.

There are many versions explaining the purpose of the Nazca geoglyphs. The most common of them is astronomical. Its supporters consider the Nazca Lines to be a kind of astronomical calendar. The ritual version is also popular, according to which the giant drawings are intended to communicate with the heavenly Deity.

Multiple repetitions of the same lines and figures, as well as the identified mathematical patterns in their proportions and relative positions, give the right to assume that the Nazca drawings represent a kind of encrypted text. According to the most fantastic hypotheses, the figures on the plateau function as landmarks for the landing of alien ships.

Unfortunately, targeted and regular study of Nazca geoglyphs is not carried out in our time. The centuries-old mysteries of the famous Peruvian drawings are still waiting for their researchers.

Geoglyphs Nazca and Palpa from a copter. Peru 2014 hd

Satellite drawings of Nazca

Plateau Nazca is located in the south of the state of Peru. Due to its dry climate and lack of water and vegetation, the area is also called the Nazca Desert. The name of the plateau is associated with

Pre-Columbian civilization,
existed in these places in the time period of 500 years. BC . and 500 g. AD Its fame plateau Nazca received thanks to geoglyphs - huge drawings drawn on the ground, which can only be seen from the air.

Discovery of the Nazca geoglyphs.
Mysterious drawings in the desert plateau became known back in 1553 from the Spanish priest Pedro Cieza de Leon. Traveling through the territory of the modern state of Peru, he wrote in his notes about the many lines drawn on the ground, which he called the “Inca Road,” and about certain signs also drawn on the sand. The first to see these signs from the air was the American archaeologist Paul Kosok, who was flying over the vast plateau in 1939. A major contribution to the study of Nazca paintings was made by the German archaeologist Maria Reiche. In 1947, she flew over the plateau in an airplane took a photo geoglyphs from the air.

Description of the drawings on the Nazca plateau
Geoglyphs measure several tens of meters in size, and the Nazca lines extend for many kilometers and sometimes even go beyond the horizon, crossing hills and dried up river beds. Images are applied to the surface by extracting soil. They form furrows about 135 cm wide and 30 -50 cm deep. The drawings have survived to this day due to the dry semi-desert climate. Today we know about 30 drawings depicting geometric figures, animals, and only one depicts humanoid a creature about 30 meters high, similar to an astronaut. Among the animal images, the most famous are the spider, hummingbird, whale, condor and monkey. The geoglyph depicting a condor is one of the largest in the desert. Its length from beak to tail is 120 meters. For comparison: the size of a spider is 46 meters, and a hummingbird is 50.

Mysteries of the Nazca Desert geoglyphs
The mysterious drawings have left archaeologists and historians with many questions. Who created them? How and for what purpose? It is impossible to see geoglyphs from the ground. They are visible only from the air, and there are no mountains nearby from which these lines and drawings could be seen. Another question that arises is that next to the drawings and lines there are no traces of ancient artists, although if a car passes over the surface, traces will remain. It is noteworthy that the monkey and whale depicted on the geoglyphs do not live in this area.

Exploring the Nazca Plateau
Some scientists believe that geoglyphs had ritual significance for the ancient inhabitants of the valley. Since they could only be seen from the air, only the gods, whom people addressed with the help of drawings, could see them. Many researchers adhere to the hypothesis that the Nazca images were created by the civilization of the same name, which lived in these places in the 2nd century BC. Explorer Maria Reiche believes that geoglyphs were first made on small sketches, and only then applied to the surface in full size. As evidence, she provided a sketch found in these places. In addition, at the ends of the lines depicting the drawings, wooden posts driven into the ground were found. They could serve as coordinates of points when drawing geoglyphs. The research results showed that the images were created at different times. The intersecting and overlapping lines indicate that ancient painting covered the land of the valley in several stages.

Various versions of the origin of Geglyphs
Many historians and archaeologists adhere to astronomical versions of drawings. The ancient inhabitants of the Nazca Desert may have been well versed in astronomy. The created gallery is a kind of star map. This version was supported by the German archaeologist Maria Reiche. American astronomer Phyllis Pitlugi cites in favor of this version the fact that the geoglyph depicting a spider is a drawing showing a cluster of stars in the constellation Orion. However, British researcher Gerald Hawkins is confident that only a small part of the lines and patterns of the Nazca Desert are associated with astronomy. Some ufologists suggest that the drawings were a guide for landing alien alien ships, and the lines of the Nazca Plateau served as runways. Skeptics do not agree with this version, if only because alien spaceships capable of traveling tens of light years do not require acceleration to take off. They can rise into the air vertically. Jim Woodman, who studied the Nazca plateau in the 70s of the last century, came to the conclusion that the ancient inhabitants who created these drawings could fly in a hot air balloon. He explains this by the depiction of this flying object on clay figurines preserved from ancient times. To prove it, Woodman made a balloon from by-products that could only be obtained in the immediate area. Hot air was supplied to the balloon and it was able to fly a fairly long distance. The German archaeologist Maria Reiche, mentioned above, called the geometric figures and lines of the Nazca plateau an encrypted text, similar to a set of letters and signs.
There is still no consensus on the origin and purpose of the mysterious geoglyphs. The Nazca Plateau remains one of the greatest mysteries on our planet...

Nazca- a desert in Peru, surrounded by low spurs of the Andes and bare and lifeless hills of dense dark sand. This desert stretches between the valleys of the Nazca and Ingenio rivers, 450 kilometers south of the Peruvian city of Lima. This desert is one of the biggest mysteries of archeology, history, anthropology and many other related sciences.

The surface of the Peruvian Nazca desert, covering an area of ​​approximately 500 square kilometers, is covered with countless land figures, gigantic in our imagination. 12 thousand stripes and lines, 100 spirals, 788 patterns were discovered on the plateau, among which are 50-meter hummingbirds, a parrot and a spider, an 80-meter monkey, a condor extends from beak to tail feathers for almost 120 meters, a lizard has a length of up to 188 meters ., finally, a 250-meter bird. Some of the geometric shapes are formed by straight lines over 8 km in length. There is an image of a flower, like a tree. But there are just over three dozen such informative drawings, that is, they make up approximately 0.2% of the total number of figures. Everything else is geometric figures: lines up to 8 km long, elongated rectangles (the largest is approximately 80x780 m), arrow-shaped triangular and trapezoidal platforms. Scattered among them are the so-called “decorations” in the form of countless whip-shaped figures (a triangle with a line emerging from the top at an angle), rectangular and sinusoidal zigzags, and spirals. In addition, on the plateau there are more than a dozen so-called “centers” - points from which lines extend in different directions.

The lines of the drawings are grooves twenty-five centimeters deep and sixty-five centimeters wide, exposing lighter (non-oxidized) scatterings of pebbles covering the entire plateau.

One of the features of Nazca drawings is that they are all made with one line that does not intersect anywhere. The painting of the plateau was carried out in several stages: many geometric figures intersect more complex figures, partially crossing them out.

Mysterious drawings in the Peruvian Nazca desert, the largest work of art in the world, one of the most outstanding and at the same time inexplicable creations of man, were few known to anyone until 1939. That year, pilots flying over a desert valley in a small airplane noticed a strange pattern of randomly intersecting long straight lines, interspersed with strange convolutions and squiggles, which was noticeable in certain lighting.

This discovery aroused great interest. Initially, archaeologists assumed that these were the remains of an ancient irrigation system. American archaeologist Paul Kosok from Long Island University went to Peru to study them.

From the air, the patterns looked immense, but on the ground, due to the uneven surface, Kosok could barely find them. “The lines could only be distinguished if you looked at them lengthwise. A few yards to the side and nothing could be seen.” After the first careful studies, Kosok’s surprise knew no bounds - according to his drawings, it turned out that it was a clear image of a large bird, which was impossible to distinguish from the ground. Kosok explored the valley and discovered the outline of a huge spider, followed by dozens of other drawings that depicted either animals or geometric patterns. He could not understand who this mysterious artist was and what kind of people it was that left behind such works of art.

In 1946, Kosok handed over his notes to Dr. Maria Reich, a German mathematician interested in ancient observatories, whose name is associated with almost the entire “canonical” history of the mysterious drawings of the Nazca desert. Since then, Maria Reiche, who has become the world's leading expert on the Nazca problem, working almost alone, has learned a lot about how to create these paintings. She hurried to record the exact dimensions and coordinates of all the drawings and lines before they were destroyed by tourists and cars. As Reiche established, the drawings were made sufficiently in a simple way, a thin layer of dark stones was laid out in lines on the yellowish ground. But, although such work does not seem physically difficult, the project was extremely complex. Reiche believes that the authors of the drawings used a fixed unit of measurement equal to 0.66 cm, similar to the megalithic yard of Alexander Thomas. Then the figures were laid out according to a specially constructed plan to scale, which was transferred to the surface of the earth using ropes attached to marker stones, some of which can still be observed today. The length and direction of each segment were carefully measured and recorded. Approximate measurements would not be sufficient to reproduce such perfect outlines as we see in aerial photography; a deviation of just a few inches would distort the proportions of the design. Photographs taken in this way help to imagine how much work it cost the ancient craftsmen. The ancient Peruvians must have possessed equipment that even we do not have and which, combined with ancient knowledge, was carefully hidden from the conquerors as the only treasure that could not be stolen.

Erich von Däniken and other searchers for traces of space aliens brought fame to the Nazca drawings. The desert was declared to be nothing more than an ancient spaceport, and the drawings were declared as navigational signs for alien ships. Another version said that the drawings in the desert are a map of the starry sky, and in the desert itself there once existed a grandiose ancient observatory.

The famous astronomer who solved the mystery, Gerald Hawkins, arrived in Peru in 1972 to find out whether there were signs among the drawings of the Nazca desert indicating a connection with astronomical observations (these signs were not there). He was surprised that the lines were unusually straight - the deviation was no more than 2 meters for every kilometer. “It would be impossible to create such a figure even with the help of photogrammetric measurements,” he believes. “These lines are really absolutely straight; we would not have gotten such a result even using modern aerial photography. And this straightness remains for many miles. Due to the thick fog spreading across the ground, the lines sometimes become invisible. But they continue in exactly the same direction on the opposite side of the ravine, and they are as straight as the trajectory of a fired arrow.”

Maria Reiche is sure that she only touched ancient secret: “What is most impressive about these ground drawings is their enormous size combined with perfect proportions. How they could depict animal figures with such precise outlines and precisely calibrated dimensions is a mystery that we will not solve soon, if at all.” Reiche, however, made one reservation: “Unless, of course, they knew how to fly.”

This is exactly what Bill Sporer, a US resident in Peru and a member of the International Research Society, tried to prove. The people who created these patterns likely came from two similar peoples, known as the Paracas and Nazca cultures, who practiced agriculture during the period before and after the Common Era. But these peoples are also known for their success in the art of weaving and decorating clay products, and this gave Sporer a clue. Four pieces of Nazca cloth from a looted grave discovered near the Peruvian paintings were examined under a microscope. It was found that the ancient Peruvians used a better weave in their fabrics than we use in the manufacture of modern parachute fabric, and stronger than in modern fabrics for balloons - 205 by 110 threads per square inch, compared with 160 by 90. Images of objects resembling balloons and kites with fluttering ribbons were found on clay pots.

Having begun his investigation, Sporer came across an old Inca legend about little boy named Antarqui, who helped the Incas in the battle, flying over the enemy’s fortifications and reporting the location of their troops. Many Nazca textiles depict flying people. These legends arose a long time ago, but it is known that even today some Indian tribes of Central and South America make balloons for their ceremonies and release them during ritual celebrations.

Another mystery lies in the so-called “fire pits” that end many straight lines. These are round pits approximately 10 meters in diameter with charred stones. Sporer, along with several other researchers, examined these stones to see if they were craters from the fall of celestial bodies, and made sure that they were blackened by exposure to a strong heat source. Perhaps a large fire was built at this place, which warmed the air inside the ball?

In November 1975, this theory was put to the test. Only from those materials and technologies that could have been available to the Nazca Indians was it built balloon. A fire was lit beneath it, and the balloon took flight with two pilots in a reed basket. Of all the hypotheses regarding the origin of such a perfect pattern, the idea with the ball was the best. But the purpose of all this is still unclear. Perhaps it was a unique form of burial, and the bodies of the dead Nazca leaders were sent to the blacks balloons- into the arms of the sun god? Maybe birds and other huge creatures symbolize eternal life these leaders? But why did they need such straight lines? No answer…

But there is evidence that among the ancients such a desire for accuracy was very widespread. There are clear similarities between the Peruvian drawings and the finds at the other end globe: Stonehenge and many famous megaliths are distinguished by their extraordinary geometric precision. By the time the Peruvian patterns were laid out, the tradition of megalithic buildings had already died out, so there is no direct evidence of a connection between the two cultures. But it would not be too rash to assume that the levels of development of these cultures, in which illiterate people used mainly stones, were similar; and that the art of making land drawings died with the advent of writing and civilization.

Peruvian paintings are one of the wonders of the world. However, the final solution to their mystery is still far away. Except that the version about runways for spaceships. Reiche categorically rejects the possibility that the Nazca paintings were alien landing signs: hypothetical space aliens are unlikely to be at such a primitive level as to lay out figures in stone. In addition, “if you move the stones, you will see that the ground underneath is quite soft,” says Maria Raihe. “I’m afraid that the astronauts would get stuck in such soil”...

Since the discovery of the mysterious drawings, scientists have been haunted by questions about their creators and purpose. The theories put forward are varied and fantastic - from space aliens to a system for controlling the earth's population. Each new enthusiast for solving the Nazca mystery adheres to one theory: astronomical, geometric, agricultural or irrigation, utilitarian-geographical (roads) and creative (art and religion). Other hypotheses have been put forward, but so far none of them has a significant advantage. Even in determining the age of desert paintings, researchers cannot come to a conclusion unanimous opinion: some believe that they were created around 200 BC. e., according to others - in 1700 BC. e. There are more than 30 hypotechs in total.

The very first one is astronomical , it came to the mind of the discoverer of the drawings, Paul Kosok. On June 21, 1939, the scientist took the first step towards solving the “mystery of Nazca.” At sunset, he saw the sun setting exactly at the intersection of one of the straight lines with the horizon. Observations in the following days convinced Kosok of the correctness of his guess: he found the line of the winter (in southern hemisphere winter corresponds to our summer) solstice. In addition, Kosok noticed that the drawings and lines indicate the location of certain cosmic bodies (stars and constellations) in the sky in astronomical terms. significant days(full moons, etc.).

But to strengthen the hypothesis, it was necessary to identify all the figures of the Nazca desert with celestial phenomena. This Herculean task demanded great effort, time and complete dedication. Paul Kosok was lucky. He found such an assistant in the person of a modest translator from Spanish, who accompanied him on trips to the countries of South America, Maria Reiche, a German by birth. It was to her that the scientist entrusted the fate of his extraordinary discovery and never subsequently repented of it. It took seven years to compile the first rough maps and topological plans of the plateau.

Only in 1947, with the assistance of the Peruvian Ministry of Aviation, Maria was able to use a helicopter. The first time she flew, hanging overboard: she was tied with ropes, and she was holding the camera in her hands. Then an engineer I knew designed a special suspension for her - it became relatively safe. She worked alone, and therefore things went slowly. First detailed diagram Maria completed the images in the Nazca desert only in 1956.

“For ancient peoples, the positions of the Sun and Moon served as a calendar,” said Maria Reiche. “It was used to determine the arrival of spring and autumn, seasonal fluctuations in water regime, and, consequently, the timing of sowing and harvesting. That's why we found so many lines. It is difficult to talk about the exact meaning of animal images. I only know that some of them represent entire constellations. Most of all I want to penetrate into the way of thinking of the ancients who left us such unusual writings. And it is also extremely important to understand how people who did not know how to fly over the pampa (the local name for the desert) could design and transfer to its surface a many times enlarged picture of the starry sky?..”

The hypothesis of the astronomical calendar was shared by most scientists around the world for decades, until the famous American astronomer Gerald Hawkins, author of the monograph “Unraveling the Mystery of Stonehenge,” began testing it. With the help of a computer, Hawkins brilliantly proved that the famous Stonehenge - a mysterious structure on Salisbury Plain - is nothing more than an astronomical observatory. Using the same technique, adjusted for the latitude of the Nazca Plateau, Hawkins was convinced that only less than 20% of the lines on the Nazca Plateau point to the Sun or Moon. As for the stars, the accuracy of the directions generally does not exceed random distribution numbers. “The computer smashed the theory of the stellar-solar calendar to smithereens,” J. Hawkins was forced to admit. “With bitterness we abandoned the theory of the astronomical calendar.” However, Hawkins' research also yielded a positive result, since it was he who first noted the strange feature of the Nazca drawings: they were all made in one line without a break, which did not intersect anywhere.

The next version of the mysterious Nazca drawings is alien , it is now the most common. And it was first put forward by Erich von Däniken (he was also involved in research on the English Stonehenge). He is sure that these drawings served as runways for interplanetary alien spacecraft. His confidence in the cosmic purpose of the signs is based on the fact that the drawings have regular shapes and the lines are perfectly straight, and can only be detected from the air.

Why are these drawings in places where no one can see them from the ground? Or were they intended directly for gods unknown to us?

Those who watched went around the world documentary"Memories of the Future" remembers a sports plane landing on one of these runways. But since they are visible only from an airplane, a natural question arises: “Did the ancient inhabitants of the Cordillera - the Incas - know how to fly?” Here it is appropriate to recall the ancient legend of the Incas, which speaks of a “golden ship” that arrived from distant stars: “They were commanded by a woman named Oryana. She was destined to become the foremother of the earthly race. Oryana gave birth to seventy earthly children, and then returned to the stars."

This legend talks about the ability of the “sons of the sun,” the Incas, to “fly over the earth in golden ships.” Perhaps there is some connection between these legends and reports of the English anthropological journal Maine, which, in particular, says: “Analysis of the muscle tissue of the surviving Inca mummies showed that in terms of blood composition they differ sharply from the local population. They were found to have a blood type of a rare combination. Nowadays, such a blood composition is known only from two or three people in the whole world.”

Developing further the discovery of J. Hawkins, who was the first to discover the continuity of lines in drawings, scientists drew attention to strange additional lines. Being completely alien to the main image, they were, however, connected to the beginning and end of the contour (groove), as if connecting the drawing to a certain Nazca megasystem. The conclusion suggests itself that the drawings resemble electrical circuits made by one conductor, which can neither be crossed (short circuit) nor interrupted (open circuit).

Paying attention to the connection lines, the scientists clearly saw parallel and serial connections of the patterns and suggested that the line-grooves of the Nazca Plateau were apparently filled in ancient times with some kind of phosphor. This substance was capable of glowing under the influence of electric current, similar to the inscriptions and drawings of modern gas-light advertising. Thus, in confirmation of the alien theory, the “runways” did their job, and the luminous patterns, visible from the air tens of kilometers away, did theirs.”

Another version with an alien basis . The key to solving the mystery of the Nazca Desert may be a huge drawing painted on a 400-meter mountain slope on the Paracas Peninsula (Peru). The design is known as the "Paracas Candelabra", or "Andean Candelabra". Its branches point in the direction of the Nazca Desert. Like the Nazca Desert figures, the lines of this image are indentations that reach into the bedrock - red porphyry. The age of the “Candelabra” dates back at least two thousand years, and the history of its origin is completely a mystery behind seven seals. According to the bold hypothesis of some Russian researchers, the “Candelabra of Paracas” is nothing more than a “passport of the Earth.” This picture contains all the information about our planet. Left side The picture on the right represents fauna, the right – flora. And the entire drawing represents a person’s face. Near the top of the mountain there is a mark shaped like a nail. This is a scale showing the “level modern development civilization" (there are six in total). If the “Candelabra” is speculatively rotated 180°, you get a crucifix. This is a kind of symbol - a warning that our planet may die from unreasonable human activity.

Further, the authors of this idea try to explain that this information It was delivered to us by a certain super-civilization from the constellation Leo. Referring to a large number of sculptural images of a lion on Earth and in all earthly religions in particular, the authors prove that modern earthly civilization is the work of aliens from the constellation Leo.

To the cosmic hypotheses, we can add the cheerful thought that perhaps star tourists simply left a trace of their visit to Earth in this way, like “Vasya was here.” It should be noted that similar interpretations of Nazca drawings are born in all corners of our planet every day, if not every minute. But even the craziest of them should not be dismissed without examining them in detail.

I want to tell you about another version that appeared relatively recently - this is an artificial system of underground water channels , located in the depths of a mountain plateau. In the city of Nazca, with a population of 10 thousand people, the river of the same name flows. In its composition and “fragrance” it is not inferior to the sewer canals of large cities, but at the same time, the residents of Nazca do not lack fresh and clean water. It is taken from a system of wells, which are located exactly along the lines of mysterious drawings. And what is especially striking is that two of these underground canals pass directly under the bed of the Nazca River. A general system Nazca's irrigation canals simply cannot but arouse admiration - it is so perfect and productive. It should be noted that the source of prosperity for the people who inhabited Nazca was agriculture, so this version has a real basis. But who, when and how could build such canals?

It is curious that the drawings were discovered from an airplane that flew over the plateau in search of water sources. And only after some time they found wells with water. Thus, the pilot coped with his task brilliantly, although he offered historians one of the most difficult puzzles of the 20th century - the Nazca drawings.

Time passes, and the Nazca drawings only become more mysterious. Not far from the desert, in the mountains, similar images were discovered that were previously unknown. And in in this case the drawings do not indicate the location of underground water channels.

And 1400 km from the Nazca plateau, at the foot of Mount Solitary, it was discovered giant statue person. It was called the "Giant of the Atacama". It reaches a height of 120 meters, and is surrounded by lines and signs similar to the Nazca drawings. There are more and more such mysterious finds every year, which confuses researchers and stimulates dreamers who put forward new versions of the purpose of the Nazca paintings.

Questions, questions... So far, no satisfactory answer has been found to any of them about these mysterious objects.

View on a larger map

Nazca Drawings are located on Nazca Plateau- one of the most mysterious places on the ground. It is located 450 km south of the capital Peru, between cities Nazca And Palpa. Here the entire territory is 500 sq. km. covered with lines and drawings of unknown origin. They are nothing special if you look at them standing next to them.

Map of Nazca drawings

In 1553 Cieza de Leon was the first to report the Nazca drawings. From his words: “Through all these valleys and through those that have already been passed, along the entire length there goes a beautiful big road Inca, and here and there among the sands there are signs to guess the path laid out.”

ABOUTMonkey, Nazca drawing

The drawings were noticed in 1939, when an airplane flew over the plateau American archaeologist Paul Kosok. A huge contribution to the study of mysterious lines belongs to the German doctor of archeology Maria Reiche. Her work began in 1941. However, she was able to photograph the drawings from the air only in 1947, using the services of military aviation.

In 1994, the Nazca Geoglyphs were listed World Heritage UNESCO.

Tree and handsNazca drawing

Nazca Plateau occupies 60 kilometers and approximately 500 sq. m of its territory is covered with a pattern of strange lines folding into bizarre shapes. Main mystery Nazca - geometric shapes in the form of triangles and more than thirty huge drawings animals, birds, fish, insects and people unusual looking. All images on the Nazca surface are dug into sandy soil, the depth of the lines varies from 10 to 30 centimeters, and the width of the stripes can reach as much as 100 meters. The lines of the drawings stretch for kilometers, without changing at all under the influence of the relief - the lines rise up hills and descend from them, while remaining almost perfectly smooth and continuous. Who and why created these drawings - unknown tribes or aliens from outer space - there is still no answer to this question. Today there are many hypotheses, but none of them can be a solution.

Dog, Nazca drawing

Whale, Nazca drawing

Hummingbird has a length of 50 meters, spider — 46, condor extends from beak to tail feathers for almost 120 meters, and heron has a length of up to 188 meters. Almost all the drawings are made on this huge scale in the same manner, when the outline is outlined by one continuous line. Ideally straight lines and stripes go beyond the horizon, crossing dry river beds, climbing hills and without deviating from their direction (although modern geodetic methods do not allow drawing a straight line up to 8 kilometers long on rough terrain so that the deviation does not exceed 0, 1 degree). The true form of the images can only be observed from a bird's eye view. There is no such natural elevation nearby, but there are half-mountain humps. But the higher you rise above the plateau, the smaller these drawings become and turn into incomprehensible scratches.

Hummingbird,Nazca drawing

Spider, Nazca drawing

Condor, Nazca drawing

Heron, Nazca drawing

What scientists have been able to establish more or less accurately is the age of the images. Based on ceramic fragments found here and data from analyzes of organic remains, they established that in the period between 350 BC. and 600 AD there was a civilization here. However, this theory cannot be accurate, since objects of civilization could have been brought here much later than the appearance of the images. One theory is that these are works of the Nazca Indians, who inhabited areas of Peru before the formation of the Inca Empire. The Nazcas did not leave anything behind except burial places, so it is unknown whether they had writing and whether they “painted” the desert.

"Astronaut", drawing by Nazca

The Nazca Lines pose many questions to historians: who created them, when, why and how. In fact, many geoglyphs cannot be seen from the ground, so we can only assume that with the help of such patterns the ancient inhabitants of the valley communicated with the deity. In addition to the ritual, the astronomical significance of these lines cannot be ruled out.